RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tomas Hertl took a backhand pass from Colton Sisson and beat Frederik Anderson from the slot with 3:24 left in the third period, lifting the Vegas Golden Knights past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Tuesday night's opener of the Stanley Cup Final.
Hertl's finish off Sisson's feed from the right faceoff circle broke a 4-4 tie and pushed the Golden Knights ahead in an entertaining back-and-forth start on the sport's biggest stage. It marked Vegas' seventh straight win of the playoffs, starting with the last two games of the six-game second-round series against Anaheim and then the shocking four-game sweep of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
🔴 WATCH LIVE 🔴 Hear from the Golden Knights after their Game 1 win:
That series included Vegas erasing a 3-0 deficit to take Game 3, and now the Golden Knights have followed by rallying from another multigoal deficit -- this time 2-0 in the opening period -- against the team that finished second only to the Avs in the regular season.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday in Raleigh, with Vegas already having taken home-ice away from the Hurricanes as it chases a second Cup title in four seasons.
Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, with Howden's postseason-leading 11th score giving the Golden Knights a 4-3 lead just 1:21 into the third period. Carter Hart finished with 23 saves.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for the Hurricanes, the first coming 25 seconds into the game when he got loose and a rush and blasted one past Hart from the left side on the game's first shot. He followed with a breakaway that gave Carolina a 2-0 lead and sent a charged home crowd into an eruption in the team's first Stanley Cup Final game in two decades.
Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored tying goals after Vegas had pushed to a lead, with Gostisbehere skating in clean on the left side to blast one past Hart at 11:19 of the third period and tie it once more at 4.
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Head Coach John Tortorella addresses player returns from injury ahead of Game 2
Head Coach John Tortorella addresses player returns from injury ahead of Game 2
VGK rolling, eager to stretch streak to 8 in Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final
The Vegas Golden Knights have a chance to take a 2-0 lead Thursday with another win at Carolina in the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas took Game 1 on Tomas Hertl's late goal for a 5-4 win.
2026 Stanley Pup gameplay video, courtesy of NHL
Jack Eichowl representing Vegas Golden Knights in this year's Stanley Pup game
As if Las Vegas doesn't have enough hockey fever as the Vegas Golden Knights fight for the Stanley Cup, now sports fans will have another game to look forward to, with arguably even cuter players.
